Amiga Games

Depending on who you ask, the
Amiga is (or was) either a great computer, or the ultimate games machine, or
both. Amiga Forever itself covers this topic in depth in its historical
sections (e.g. in the videos), where it becomes
evident that what was originally conceived as a games machine, and then grew
into a multimedia computer with a multitasking operating system, also had to
be constantly reinvented as both technology and market conditions evolved.

There were times, after the release of the Amiga in 1985,
where dedicated games machines were not very successful. As Jay Miner once
told Cloanto's staff in a 1990
interview, "Little did
they know [when they designed the Amiga] that the whole video games thing was going to turn around and go
through the cellar in a year or two." From this perspective, or in
consideration of the Amiga's other troubles, judging what was right or wrong
about the Amiga could lead to conclusions that may not be shared 20 years
later, when dedicated games machines are still very popular, and when so much of
what remains and is remembered of the Amiga itself is, after all, its legacy
of games. Even we at Cloanto, who were developers of
Amiga productivity applications since the beginning, were somewhat
surprised of this evolution.

What is left to us today, and what the Amiga Forever project
itself aims to preserve and make accessible in a fully legal and authorized
context, is a legacy of thousands of Amiga games. These are titles that made
history, for the new ideas in game design they introduced, for their
playability, and for their innovative use of the Amiga's exciting and
powerful hardware. These games are part of the Amiga culture, and of the
memories of those who made it and lived it. We are grateful to the
preservation organizations and sites, as well as to the original game
developers, who made it possible to access these Amiga titles via a simple
download.

Included Games

Different editions of Amiga Forever may come with different
selections of included games, also in consideration of space and of
available ROM and operating system versions. These titles are preinstalled, and can
be started directly from the Amiga Forever software. We are confident that once you start playing these
games you will
be tempted to download several more Amiga game classics, which are easy to
install and use in Amiga Forever.

Compatibility

The Amiga emulation software and the ROM and operating
system files as included in Amiga Forever can be used to
play all Amiga games which are available for download from various sites.
Sometimes, the download sites include specific configuration instructions,
which describe how the emulation software has to be configured (e.g. the
CPU, or the minimum or maximum memory, etc.) As long as these instructions
are followed, the games will work.

Some games were designed to run on newer Amiga systems (e.g.
those with the AGA chip set, and the newer 2.x or 3.x Workbench), or on
special Amiga systems (e.g. the CDTV or CD).

Download and Support Sites

The following is a list of the major sites which include thousands of
downloadable Amiga games with permission of the copyright holders:

Another method to quickly search for an Amiga game is to enter the game
title and the word "ADF" or "RP9" in Google Search.

If a game appears to not run on first attempt, be sure to check if its
download site includes configuration instructions.

Other sites focus more on the preservation of information (authors,
screenshots, etc.) about games, but sometimes they do include links to
download sites, in addition to being excellent library resources:

Additional Information

Amiga Forever emulation supports different Amiga joystick access modes,
including PC joysticks (traditional and Xbox game controllers) and keyboard
emulation. To change the general game controller and keyboard settings, see
the Input panel under Tools/Options. Input options can also be changed on a
per-title basis (right-click the title and select Edit.

Some games may originally have had a copy protection feature which
required that a word, or color, or other reference from the original game
packaging be entered during the game. Where it existed, such protection has
been removed (with permission of the game copyright holders or publishers),
so that it is usually enough to simply press Enter when prompted to enter such
information.

By default, games are stored in the "Games"
folder, inside "Amiga Files" when installed
on a Windows system. As of Amiga Forever 7, you can add your own content
folders.

For additional instructions on running downloaded files, please refer
to this article: